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Royal Spirit Alive! How to be a Beacon in a 40-watt World

It’s been said the future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. Part of being brave is daring to go after what you want. This month, our Y.E.S. Showcase features Pat Norris, Chief of Police, City of Winston-Salem. Her career path is a testimony to opening the door when opportunity knocks.

It also shows her unwavering commitment to demonstrating professional law enforcement in policy and practice.

Y.E.S. (You Expressing Spirit) Showcase

Here's a mini-checklist describing Winston-Salem’s new Chief of Police, Pat Norris:

Chief of Police, Pat Norris, Winston-Salem photo courtesy of Ron Hayden

Chief Norris grew up in Winston-Salem. A larger than life career path began with an inauspicious beginning. Pat Norris was hired by the City of Winston-Salem in 1976 working in traffic engineering as an aid. Greater opportunity knocked and Pat grabbed it. She entered rookie school in 1977 and has embraced professional law enforcement ever since. “This is a job that is not really a job. It’s something you want to do because you want to give back to the community.” She’s risen through the ranks - Patrol Officer in each geographic region of the city; Crime Prevention Unit; Criminal Investigation Division; and Professional Standards (aka Internal Affairs Unit) - so she’s not speaking from a myopic point of view.

Keeping Peace, Changing Culture

To understand her dedication and commitment to the Police Department, one needs to know that Chief Norris sees law enforcement as a way to change culture. Her strong desire to “add a little bit more from Pat” propelled her to seek the Chief of Police position. She says she had to think it over though before submitting her application. ”It’s a huge commitment. I’m really family-oriented and I like spending time with my grandkids, but my grandparents always told me ‘If someone knocks on the door, it’s better that you open it and see what’s there, than not open it and not know what’s there.’ I’m a very competitive person so I said I gotta see, I just gotta see.”

Much has been written about Chief Norris being the first African American female to hold the Chief of Police position. Chief Norris is not focusing on it. She has strong accolades for her predecessor, Linda Davis, whom she sees as a trailblazer for other women, but she doesn’t look at her race or gender as being an enhancer or detractor; nor as a barrier or an asset. In fact, when a reporter asked Chief Norris “Do you think they’ll pick two women back-to-back?” her response was, “They’ve picked men back-to-back for years. What’s the difference?”

Partnership and Teamwork

One of the greatest assets Chief Norris brings to the position is people-skills, both internal and external to the Police Department. In the external environment, ‘partnership’ is a key word for Chief Norris. She loves working with other organizations and agencies to continue making Winston-Salem a desirable place to live and visit. Recent visits by the United States President, Vice President and Secretary of State have placed demands on the Department’s ability to partner and work collaboratively with outside agencies. While the list of high-profile visitors continued to expand, Chief Norris joked with her Assistant Chief, “We’re becoming experts on this stuff.” There’s some laughter now as she shares this story, but she also expresses a whole lot of pride in Winston-Salem Police Department’s capacity to work cooperatively with the Secret Service on a frequent basis.

This past March the Department was notified of the following good news:

“It is a privilege to advise you that your agency has met the requirements of a highly regarded and broadly recognized body of law enforcement standards, and was accredited for a third time by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. on March 20, 2004.”

The accreditation is a most notable achievement, as only twenty-two NC municipal police departments have achieved this standard of professional excellence. Chief Norris sees this as a high-performing team demonstrating Professional Law Enforcement in policy and practice.

Looking Ahead

Resting on past laurels is not Chief Norris’ style. When asked, “How do you keep looking ahead? How do you keep getting better?” Chief Norris shared these tips:

	Change and Innovation: “Introduce changes at ground level. Let the ground level put the nuts and bolts together of how it’s going to work, because then you get the buy-in. You gotta get buy-in on the ground level because that’s where the masses of people are and they are the ones that actually drive the bus.”
	Handling Differences: “Develop the courage to respectfully confront. It doesn’t matter to me if you are Chief, Assistant Chief, Patrol Officer, Sergeant, or whatever, we should be able to sit down and talk about differences and we should be able to agree to disagree.”
	Personal Responsibility: “Be willing to change if the change needs to come from you, as opposed to always looking for other people to change.”

As our interview time was about to end, Chief Norris extended the following invitation, “Come and ride, it will give you a better perspective of what actually goes on in the City.” She was referring to the Ride-Along Program. NC Journal for Women accepted her offer. Chief Norris was right, it provided an expanded perspective of what’s done in the City.

There’s one final message from Chief Norris,
“Get involved. Get involved in your community.”

The phone rang. Our interview concluded. Chief Norris was back to doing what she loves to do, making a positive difference in her community.

About the Winston-Salem Police Department Ride-Along Program

Recently, NC Journal for Women Magazine got an upfront and personal view of law enforcement in action by participating in Winston-Salem Police Department’s Ride-Along Program. We got a view of city streets from the perspective of Patrol Officer Timothy M. Howes.

Patrol Officer Timothy M. Howes and Lafragia McMillan, Communications Dispatcher at the Public Safety Communicaitons Center

Our “ride-along” included a tour of Public Safety Communications Center. We met Lafragia McMillan, Communications Dispatcher. She showed us the modern-day technology linking the center with Patrol Officers. Then, it was off to the patrol car to ride the beat.

Door Bells. Some of us use them when we visit our neighbors. In some neighborhoods, though, people show up on their neighbor’s doorstep with a baseball bat.

Bam! Bam! Bam! It’s a knock on the door of a different kind. Not exactly your friendly neighbor showing up to borrow a cup of sugar. A call to 911 for rescue catapults law enforcement into action.

Want to participate in the Ride-Along Program? There is a formal application procedure with guidelines and restrictions for all participants. For more information you can contact Nancy Zwick at 336-773-7830.

Oh, what about the neighbor with the baseball bat? Call cancelled. Seems the neighbors were able to work it out. “That’s life on the beat,” says Officer Howes.